by Esme Beal
“Look at that,” I whispered to my son. “Snow Falls. The entire city. From the Northside to the West Bay and all the way to the Southern Block. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
Noah laughed softly at me.
“And you,” I said to my Omega. “You should be resting.”
“I am resting. I don’t work half as many hours at the restaurant as I used to.”
“I don’t think you should be working at all.”
“I might have to take it into consideration. Sitters are telling me that Felix is becoming a bit of a handful even though everybody at the shelter is fighting over spending time with him. Besides, if anybody should be taking time off from work…”
“I know, I know,” I sighed. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll cut my hours down if you take a hiatus. At least temporarily. I’m sure the restaurant will love to have you back eventually.”
“That’s a compromise.”
“A good one, I think.”
“Yeah…”
Noah leaned close to me and sighed. He rested my head against my arm as we both stared off into the distance.
“When I was younger, I never imagined that I would even get the chance to meet you,” he said. “Even in high school, you were larger than life. Even though I saw you walking through the halls, you still felt like a figment of my imagination.”
“I’m not. I’m here. I’ll always be here. For you. For Felix.”
“I know…”
I kissed Noah softly on the lips then rocked my son gently back and forth in my arms. Felix cooed softly and squirmed.
“What’s wrong, baby?” I whispered. “Are you all right?”
“I think he’s just excited. He probably loves the view.”
“Excited. He has every reason to be. I think everybody in Snow Falls has a reason to smile today.”
Epilogue
NOAH
Two weeks later…
If there was ever a time in my life when I was in over my head, this had to be it.
“Okay, everybody, settle down now! Settle down!”
I laughed as I raised my voice, knowing that all of the children running around me weren’t going to listen.
“Goodness, what is happening in here?”
Eunice stepped into the room and put her hands on her hips. It was pure chaos inside of the shelter playroom.
“I wish I could answer,” I said.
“Let me see if I can do this…”
Eunice stepped into the center of the spacious room and held her arms out.
“All right! Everybody listen up!”
Her voice boomed loud enough that all of the young children came to a halt like time had stopped. They stared at her, wide-eyed, their mouths agape like they were in the worst kind of trouble.
“It’s almost time for dinner,” she said. “But first, who’s in the mood for a story?”
“Yeah!”
The children all cheered in unison. Eunice laughed and smiled.
“Okay,” she said. “But first you’re all going to have to settle down for a bit. If you want to hear the story, you can’t talk over me. And you’ll have to stop running around.”
The children all got in line, sitting down on the carpet one by one and looking at Eunice with eager anticipation.
“That’s better,” Eunice said confidently. “Now… If you stay calm for just a second while I talk to Noah, then I’ll know you really want to hear this story.”
I walked with Eunice out of the playroom. We both let out a deep sigh of relief.
“Thank you,” I said with a laugh.
“They’re already enough of a handful. You should be focused on Felix right now.”
I looked down at my son in my arms. I rocked him gently back and forth.
“He’s asleep,” I said. “Surprised all of that commotion didn’t wake him up.”
“He’s asleep now but there’s no telling when he’ll wake up.”
“Are you sure you can handle it? We’ve gotten a lot more people coming into the shelter lately.”
“We’ve gotten a lot more help, too… Speaking of which…”
Eunice looked over my shoulder. Charlie was talking to a couple of young ones and brought them over.
“Found these rascals running around the place,” he said. “Got their attention when I told them it was story time.”
“Thank you, Charlie,” Eunice replied. “You want to help me with story time?”
“That sounds great!”
“I’ll be waiting for you.”
Eunice excused herself back into the playroom. Even from outside, I could hear all of the children rumbling with anticipation.
“So,” I said to Charlie. “How are things?”
“Couldn’t ask for anything more. You know, you were right.”
“About what?”
“I always wanted to have a lot of money. I guess that’s why I was always cooking up some scheme. I never would’ve gotten involved with Queen if that wasn’t the case.”
“And now?”
“Now I realize that I’ve got a great job at the restaurant, especially now that your Alpha fixed the place up. And spending time here is a lot more fulfilling than anything money can buy. These people, especially the kids… It’s nice having them around. I…”
Charlie smiled at me in a way I’d never seen before. A calm, grateful smile that told me everything I needed to know.
“Thanks, Noah. For everything.”
“Don’t thank me yet. There’s still plenty of work for us to get done in Snow Falls.”
“You know it.”
Charlie went into the room to help Eunice deal with all of the children just before dinner.
With my son sleeping in my arms, I had a rare brief moment to relax and be with myself.
I stepped out of the shelter and looked out onto the streets. The Southern Block looked like it always did. The buildings weren’t as nice as they were in the Northside. The streets were a little dirtier. The people didn’t seem as friendly. But I couldn’t help but smile as I looked out on the scene.
In the distance, I saw a car coming down the road from the corner of my eye. The luxury car was unmistakable. It pulled right up to the curb in front of the shelter. Ashton stepped out and his assistant Donna came out of the other side.
“Got everything you needed,” she said to me. “Diapers. Formula. Some clothing. Even some toys.”
“There was no need to get all that,” I said. “You’re gonna spoil him.”
“He’s my son,” Ashton said. “If I wanna spoil him, I’m gonna spoil him.”
“We also got some things for the shelter,” Donna said. “Food delivery truck should be coming around the back of the building.”
“Perfect,” I said. “Dinner is about to start. The people here should be really excited to have something new. Thank you, Donna.”
“Don’t thank me. I’m just… I’m just doing what any friend would do.”
Donna looked over at Ashton and gave him a wink before heading inside of the shelter.
“So…”
Ashton walked up to me with his hands in his pockets, his attention focused on our son.
“…How has he been treating you?”
“He got everything out of his system earlier,” I said. “He’s all tuckered out. Thank goodness for that. I wouldn’t have been able to handle Felix and the children.”
“Maybe I could look into getting some more help for the shelter.”
“That’d be nice. With all of the renovations you made, the place is a lot more inviting. A lot more people are looking for help. A few extra hands wouldn’t hurt.”
“Donna and I will look into it…”
Ashton put his arm around me. The sun was just beginning to go down in the distance. We looked out onto the streets together. With my son in my arms and Ashton by my side, I couldn’t have asked for anything more. I let out a contented sigh and leaned up against my Alpha.
“Tire
d?” he asked.
“Just a little sleepy. But nothing I can’t handle. Especially with you around. How about you?”
“Time at the office. Time with you. Time with our child. Time at the shelter. I’ve grown accustomed to it all.”
“Working so hard, just like any good Alpha should. It’s funny… Back in high school, I always looked up to you as someone who was larger than life.”
“And now?”
“Now? Now I see that you’re even more amazing.”
“I see… Now that you mention it, my biggest regret is not having spoken to you earlier when we were in high school all those years ago. I wonder if things would’ve been different.”
“It doesn’t matter. I would’ve lived my life over the same way. All of the mistakes I made… They all led me here. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Me either.”
His arm wrapped around me, he pulled me tighter into his embrace and held me close.
“You and I have something,” he said. “Something that everybody dreams of. I might be Ashton Webb but I’m just a man. To meet a man like you… It’s special. I’ll never take it for granted. I love you, Noah.”
He kissed me softly on the lips.
“I love you, too.”
I’d gotten over it mostly but it still felt like a dream to be with a man like Ashton. I had to keep my focus though, knowing that we had the rest of our lives together.
“We’re going to do something amazing in Snow Falls,” he said. “Not just in the Southern Block. We have to do our part.”
“As long as I have you with me, I know that I can do anything.”
Ashton was a man I fell in love with from the moment I saw him. Now we were together with a bond that could never be broken. Our child would grow up in Snow Falls surrounded by all of the love and care he needed.
I didn’t know how things would end up. I was just an Omega trying to make his way through life here in Snow Falls. But I found the Alpha I was destined to be with. I found the man who made me happy. It filled my heart with an immeasurable joy.
I knew there were others like me in Snow Falls. If I could find the man of my dreams, I knew that they could, too.
Thanks for reading!
Thank you so much for reading First Love! It’s the first title in The Snow Falls Omegas Series. All titles in the Snow Falls Omegas Series are standalone romance stories. Check out my Amazon Page to see the others!
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The Dirge Omegaverse
BOOK ONE: OMEGA CALLING
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079CJ5TZZ
BOOK TWO: ALPHA RISING
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B27XHD3
BOOK THREE: OMEGA PASSION
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BJ8X7S3
BOOK FOUR: ALPHA HUNTED
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CBMDFX1
BOOK FIVE: OMEGA HEART
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CQMNVSR
